How to Train Your Dragon

Film info

Title How to Train Your Dragon

Directors Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Year 2010

Run time 1hr 38m

Genres Family, Adventure, Fantasy, Animation

Tagline One adventure will change two worlds

This Academy Award-nominated DreamWorks Animation film rolls fire-breathing action, epic adventure and big laughs into a captivating, fun and original story. Hiccup is a young Viking who defies tradition and befriends one of his deadliest foes - ferocious dragon he calls Toothless. Together, the unlikely heroes fight against the odds to save both their worlds in this wonderful, feel-good hit.

Live blog

Time

Comment

1:19

“We’re Vikings, we have stubborn-ness issues.”

2:55

These animators have learnt how to do fire and water well.

4:36

Two-headed dragon! Jeez.

9:06

“It’s not so much what you look like, it’s what’s inside that he can’t stand.”

17:44

At least there are some girls in the trainee group. Was worried.

22:40

“Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about.”

24:36

Lightning + Death = Night Fury.

33:15

The dragon is adorable.

37:20

Now need a way for it to open and close depending.

48:36

“Thor Almighty.”

52:53

I mean, he must have known he was going to get found out, flying around the island like that.

58:41

What is it, like uber-Dragon?

1:00:06

Well I don’t know how they’re going to sort this mess out.

1:06:08

Any scene with the dad, I’m mesmerised by the beard.

1:13:29

You gotta have some serious faith in your men to stand under the flight path of a flaming missile.

1:23:30

That had end-of-level boss written all over it.

1:25:05

What I have learned is that dragons like it when you say sorry.

Conclusions

People love this movie, and it’s good but I have to admit I wasn’t completely blown away by it all. There was some underlying flaws which irritated (the kid was obsessed with being as good as the others but didn’t bother trying to get fitter or anything? And why didn’t the dragons just fly away from the massive dragon they were all scared of? What was keeping them there?)

Apart from that, it’s a good message the story is spinning - violence is not the answer - and the cast are good, the dragons cute. I most enjoyed the montage of Hiccup using his learnings from the field in the training pit. Good but not my favourite.